Case 1: Handwriting and Remingtonese
In his poem “Letters,” Ralph Waldo Emerson defines a letter as “the word the vessel brings.” The vessel is a nautical one in his poem, but Henry James’ letters to Horace Scudder prompt us to think about the “vessel” of communication as the physical means of transporting text from one person to another. James handwrote one of these letters in his quick, cursive script, and his secretary typed the other on a Remington typewriter. James apologizes for the “Remingtonese” of the typed letter, suggesting that it is less attractive or less personal than handwriting. How do the vessels of handwriting and typescript in this exhibit affect the meanings they communicate?
Up Next: [“Letters,” a handwritten poem]